0600 position 18-39S 173-59W. At anchor in 16 feet, coral and sand
bottom, Neiafu, Vava'u, Tonga
I can recall two times in my life where sensual experiences have stuck
with me forever, The first was the taste of a Mountain Dew soda as it
slid down my throat after a three day swim/hike down the north shore
of
Molokai at age 17. Two high school buddies and I had pushed ourselves
to
the limit of thirst, hunger, and exhaustion before that iced cold
Mountain
Dew helped mark the end of our ordeal. The second was the feeling of
the
first hot shower in more than three months at the Oa Oa hotel in Bora
Bora
after cruising off the radar through the sparsely inhabited islands of
the
South Pacific in 1986. We didn't realize how much we missed hot
showers
before we had one. I remember the euphoric feeling of the stress
draining
my body as the hot water poured over me like it happened yesterday.
I believe I may have just experienced the third indelible memory with
the
steak dinner we had tonight at the Mango Restaurant here in Neiafu.
It
has been over a month since we have had red meat of any kind, with the
exception of what ever might be included in a can of chili and some
ham
(the other white meat?). Otherwise we have been red meat free since
departing Kaneohe. Kara, my vegetarian daughter, will be proud of me
for
that, but I have felt like I was slowly dying. My bad for not
bringing
something to fill that gap, but I didn't and the canned "corned meat"
available in Niuatoputapu didn't appeal to us. We have been on a hunt
for
a real steak since arriving yesterday, and today discovered what we
believe, so far, to be the only real steak available in Neiafu at the
Mango.
It was a superb pepper steak, smothered in a bernaise sauce with a
baked
potato, green beans, and onion rings accompanied by a glass of
wonderfully
smooth merlot. The restaurant's owner, Gray, originally came to Tonga
from New Zealand as the King's personal chef, and two Kings later he
is
still retained by the royal family as a consultant when visiting
dignitaries drop in for official visits. As you can imagine, the
service,
ambiance, and food was impeccable. Our server was the prettiest gal
we
have seen since arriving here. Rocky noted that they even had piano
music
playing (on the stereo system). I do not think I will ever forget the
feeling of bliss as I bit into that steak for the first time.
The rest of today was equally successful. Lori got the headstay and
roller furling gear ordered. We are hopeful that she will receive it
in
time for her to hand carry out here when she flies in next week. We
got
all our laundry done so we are sleeping on clean sheets again
tonight.
And Rocky got to see a live NBA playoff game this afternoon at the
Bounty
Bar.
This cruise has been a bit challenging so far, first with our
electrical
issues and now with our headstay failure. However, we are truly
blessed
with good friends, and many of them came to our assistance in trying
to
solve our problems. Brian Rush, Tony Hoff, Greg Gillette, Munch
Macdonald, Tom Clark, Ty Pryne, Fuzz Foster, Larry Stenek, Ron Dodini,
Matt Dyer, Gordon Goldsmith, Lou Scheer, Jeff Dunnavant, Wayne Millar,
George Nottingham, and Steve Theodore helped us work through these
problems. Even T-Bone, who used to work for Fuzz but now works for
Island
Nautical in Florida, helped when we called them for roller furling
parts.
Many others also offered their assistance from Leilani Himmelman in
New
Zealand to Tim Dick in San Francisco. We are grateful to you all.
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